Mike wanted to run the football. What really happened?

[Reverend Conehead]

All last offseason anytime a mike was put in his face he talked about running the football and eliminating the TO’s.

Fast forward to the first month of the season and the dink and dunk offense was born. It actually moved the ball ok, but we couldn’t score in the redzone for what seemed like a month.

After the SF game, things changed and he opened it up passing wise but the running game never did anything. From the SF game on Lamb was the most productive WR in football.

So what happened? We all saw the Oline was terrible at run blocking as backs would get hit in backfield repeatedly. They had this propensity to keep running off Center and off Guard all throughout the year.

How is it fixed? Get better Guards? We have two of the best in football. Get a new Oline coach? Change the run scheme? I was under the impression that was Schotty’s baby, and if it was he failed.

My point is we can’t expect to just bring in a new RB and do the same thing.

How can it be fixed?

1. Draft a center in the high rounds (1st or 2nd)
2. Draft a RB in the medium rounds (3rd, 4th, or 5th)
3. Sign a decent free-agent RB as relief guy

 

[Gambit]

Draft a RB in the medium rounds (3rd, 4th, or 5th

No 4th
5th is a comp pick so end of round
It's nearly 100 picks from our 3rd round pick til or 5th round comp.

 

[Chasing6]

Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth. Defense got punched in the mouth on opening drive. Offenses plan was not very good to start the game.

 

[quickccc]

Pollard wasn’t going to be the same that early after the injury. But he was never a starting RB. We needed a hammer. We drafted one and only gave him a few carrys. There will be plenty of RB coming out and in FA. Get some.

(sigh) ... alas that's all some of our fans only know and can relate to ... the bell cow pounder.
They don't want an Aaron Jones, ...Gibbs or Montgomery, James Cook,.. ET, ....K. Williams ..etc ..

 

[quickccc]

Zack is on the decline and he is not the same player he was. Biadaiz is average, Steele was a mess, the only two who played good were the Smiths. Oline did fine with pass blocking but run blocking was atrocious

- Maybe he is no longer dominate, but is Martin still a very solid OG, ..still a productive one ?

- Any All pro or Pro bowl invite was a gimme for all of the past, previous years and the popular name on the back of
his jersey, imo. But most of all - we had a piss poor OL coach and scheme that i believe affected the entire OL unit.

- Agree with Tyler B. Amazing how different a year makes from him being recognized as a pro bowl alternate to one of the
bigger weaknesses on this OL unit. Whiffing and falling off blocks, and he could not get to the second level of defenders.

- After re-signing for lucrative contract, post ACL Steele just never returned to '23 form. Contract or not. i'm for giving him one more full year before it's time to make a huge decision on his future here.

 

[quickccc]

Big Mac blabbed about a run game ... and then handed it all over to his assistants to do the handy work with the RBs, run game.

Seems like he just focused on the pass game with QB-WRs- TEs.. .left the RB stuff up to Solari, Blasko and Schott. - and what a disaster that was !

 

[Chasing6]

(sigh) ... alas that's all some of our fans only know and can relate to ... the bell cow pounder.
They don't want an Aaron Jones, ...Gibbs or Montgomery, James Cook,.. ET, ....K. Williams ..etc ..

Well it is amazing what some of the smaller backs can do if you open up some holes.

 

[Brooksey]

Our scheme sucks and we really missed this year not drafting a RB earlier.

We need a bell cow with Pollard change of pace.

Think Detroits 1-2 punch with Montgomery/Gibbs

 

[John813]

Our scheme sucks and we really missed this year not drafting a RB earlier.

We need a bell cow with Pollard change of pace.

Think Detroits 1-2 punch with Montgomery/Gibbs

Yea, it was odd going into this year with Pollard, who had a leg injury in January and then UDFA talent behind him and a niche small RB.
Didn't need to trade up for Gibbs/Robinson but they've seen good success taking a RB in rounds 3-4 in Barber, Murray and Pollard.
And then when they did draft a RB, 6th round, it's a player that had a great CFB career but has significant hurdles to overcome to make it in the NFL due to his size.

Guess since they franchised Pollard they assumed they would get franchise tag results.

 

[cowboyed]

Mike's running back cup of players did not runneth over.

 

[CyberB0b]

The line and backs were inadequate, as was the coaching. Essentially, an organizational failure.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Pollard was never a lead back.

Last year the fans were screaming if not demanding the he get some of Zeke's carries.

This year he averaged 3 more carries a game and suddenly he isn't a lead back.

Poor scheme and poor play calling are a plague no RB can over come. How many times did we see Pollard get hit at or behind the LOS this year? A lot!

 

[DanA]

I think it was a combination of problems.

• Steele wasn't confident run blocking
• Biadasz isn't strong enough
• Tyron Smith has lost a bit of mobility

We have Tyler Smith and Martin mauling but they just didn't have the support to properly open holes.

 

[StuckMojo]

Start with a new Oline coach and stronger Center

 

[nobody]

I agree to an extent. I think great running backs can get something out of nothing. I honestly haven’t seen a breakaway touchdown in years and I know those don’t happen as frequent as ESPN shows them but we seem to be allergic to it. Our big plays come from the pass.

Agreed. But to get good breakaway TD's, you need a line that can open lanes for the RB. Of course, you need a smart, fast RB that can take advantage of those situations too.

 

[Jayinem]

Paying an injured Pollard 10 million was a disaster. It turned Dak into a gunslinger when he was probably at his best in his rookie year with a great running game. Yes we won 12 games the division etc... but our schedule was 3rd easiest in the NFL based off strength of schedule. We were quickly exposed for who we really were against a 7 seed at home.

That's not to give the defense a pass either, they were worse than Dak in that game and were an overrated defense. Just run the ball down their throats. Both our running offense and defense kept us from being any real contenders.

 

[kevm3]

Weak O line in terms of run game and we made a complimentary RB coming off of an injured leg the primary back. Instead of taking O line during the 2nd round, we took a TE and we drafted a mini rb in the 6th. The run game pretty much looked like what anyone with a lick of common sense expected.

 

[G2]

Dallas ignored the RB position from the second the season ended. All off season and up until the trade deadline, Dallas continued to do nothing.

 

[CowboyStar88]

All last offseason anytime a mike was put in his face he talked about running the football and eliminating the TO’s.

Fast forward to the first month of the season and the dink and dunk offense was born. It actually moved the ball ok, but we couldn’t score in the redzone for what seemed like a month.

After the SF game, things changed and he opened it up passing wise but the running game never did anything. From the SF game on Lamb was the most productive WR in football.

So what happened? We all saw the Oline was terrible at run blocking as backs would get hit in backfield repeatedly. They had this propensity to keep running off Center and off Guard all throughout the year.

How is it fixed? Get better Guards? We have two of the best in football. Get a new Oline coach? Change the run scheme? I was under the impression that was Schotty’s baby, and if it was he failed.

My point is we can’t expect to just bring in a new RB and do the same thing.

How can it be fixed?

I haven’t read any of the replies so excuse me if any of this has been mentioned.

1. We have to change the blocking scheme for whatever the reason these guys struggled when they switched schemes.

2. New OL Coach someone who has a nasty streak in them that challenges the big dudes.

3. Gotta get strong at the C need more anchor and push there. If would be nice if Hoffman can get the reps to takeover there. Dude is a big nasty SOB who brings that punch you in the mouth attitude like Ferguson.

4. Gotta decided if moving on from Tron, if so you’re gonna have to find a OG and an OC

5. Need more out of the other TE’s in the run blocking, and potentially a new FB/HB that can block and be a threat to run the ball.

6. RB, RB, RB- I’d like a guy like Josh Jacob’s who runs with power/speed and will lay the wood with attitude. If not, I’d take a flier on Barkley and look for a back to compliment him in the later RDs. He’s a shifty guy who could really add what TP couldn’t to the offense.

7. Last? Gotta be able to beat good teams who punch them in the mouth that dare Dak to beat them so they can have a more balanced attack.

Thats my 7 point plan to fix that mess.

 

[blueblood70]

1. Draft a center in the high rounds (1st or 2nd)
2. Draft a RB in the medium rounds (3rd, 4th, or 5th)
3. Sign a decent free-agent RB as relief guy

that's a nice plan but I'm betting they can convert Hoffman to a nice center everybody around here didn't even wanna think about Connor Williams as a center they didn't want him on this team anymore and he seems to be doing an admirable job with Miami literally we got a guy that would probably work all offseason to make our center who's a little bit bigger maybe a little bit tougher and Hoffman you're not gonna get a center or waste a pick in the first or second round on the center when we really we could use another left guard or even a left tackle that's too high a pick for a center in my opinion unless you know there's a Hall of Famer waiting there...

So what I'm saying is center is not that high a priority but drafting a running back that late we definitely would need to get him by the third round and I'm talking about second or third we need a stud running back not one we believe can turn into a stud but it can't miss Ezekiel Elliott or Henry type and you're gonna need to get him in the second or third round.. Just having a big fast back and maybe using deuce Vaughn in the old Tony Pollard roll along with like you said getting another veteran mid type guy in relief unless you wanna keep Rico around will fix a lot of what the offensive line is doing along with a better scheme maybe they need to come up with what can this offensive line do better in a different scheme when it comes to the run game if they can fix that we probably don't need to change a whole bunch of things on offense in my opinion...

I believe we have the pieces for offense outside of the running back we need a stud running back I think the rest of it's on this team and they need to concentrate in the higher rounds we need a linebacker and some pieces on defense to get a bigger defense that are better at stopping the run that's a high priority in the 1st 2 rounds... Like I'm saying first round I don't know who's available but we need a stud middle linebacker a Day one starter, not a center IMHO....

I'm not even opposed to keeping #63 or trying to work in Hoffman or even bringing in a veteran that can play center, maybe that's a little bigger and better in the run game but on a cheap contract literally our offense could be almost ran back exactly how it is and do pretty well-being a second year in this new offense with even more tweaks...